McCarthyism

As the Cold War began, The Soviet Union began to take control of Eastern European countries, which spread communism to these areas. When China became a communist state, Americans became fearful of their nation’s security, since 100000 Americans had also identified themselves as supporters of the communist party. As anti-communist sentiment increased, The Federal Employee Loyalty Program and the House Un-American Activities Committee were formed in 1947. The purpose of both of these organizations was to prosecute people and organizations perceived as being disloyal, and this began the trend of prosecuting suspected communists.

In 1950, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy had acquired a bad reputation as a legislator, and in order to get reelected in 1952, he made the decision to pursue the issue of communist government conspiracies as a sort of publicity stunt. McCarthy first gained a surge in popularity when he made a speech on Lincoln Day in 1950, saying that the government was “infested with communists”. In the early 1950s, McCarthy began accusing people of being communist in spite of having no evidence to back up his claims, and this practice became known as “McCarthyism”. At one point, McCarthy claimed to have the names of 205 communists in the State Department, and furthermore, he accused the Democratic Party of allowing communist infiltration into the government. Generally, Republicans did not speak out against his accusations because they believed the policy of purging communists would help them win the 1952 Presidential election.

In 1954, McCarthy accused the US army of housing and favoring communists, and this began the televised Army-McCarthy Hearings, where McCarthy acted as the prosecutor. However, as newspapers began reporting the court proceedings, the American public began to view McCarthy’s approach as reckless and devious, and within a few months, in addition to being severely censured by the rest of the Senate, his popularity with the public dropped significantly. Although McCarthy still served out the remainder of his term as Senator and continued to speak out against communism, the press no longer paid attention to him, and likewise, the general public lost interest in him.

Written by: Derek O'Connor

Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were African American fighter pilots in World War II as the 332^nd Fighter Group of the U.S Army Corps. These men faced a lot of discrimination despite the fact that they were fighting for our home country, the U.S. These pilots were the first African American pilots. The U.S congress forced these black men to form their own unit that did not include and white males. The Army tried to keep African Americans out of the Army by making tests and courses they had to go through which some thought were impossible. These men took up the challenge and all managed to pass the tests and go through the courses and defy all odds. The 332^nd fighter group was ready to go to war and escorted the 15^th (white) Air force unit into heavy strategic bombing raids of Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Germany.  After completing this mission and gaining much needed respect, the Tuskegee Airmen were then nicknamed the “black birdmen”. The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded several Silver Stars, 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 8 Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars, and 744 Air Medals. In total, 994 pilots were trained in Tuskegee, 445 were deployed overseas, and 150 airmen lost their lives. After the war, the Tuskegee Airmen still faced racism and prejudice. The country owes a huge debt to these brave men who put their lives on the line for a population that was against them the whole time.   

Women In Wartime

Once the war began the United States did not have enough workers to help the military and industrial needs, and so 6 million women pursued work in factories; women boosted to work force by 35%.. At first factories were reluctant to hire women because they did not not think they had enough stamina, but the women proved them wrong.

Women faced much prejudice with other minorities and their wages were 40% less than men. They also took up journalism and other male professions during the war, such as photography, to document the work being done by the army. A lot of women worked in defense plants, which offered more challenging work and higher pay. The women built ships, aircraft, vehicles and, weaponry.
On top of working in factories women were also in charge of taking care of the house while the men were fighting the war. Mothers who had lost sons in the war effort put up banners with gold stars for every son or husband lost; they became known as Gold Star Mothers.
Rosie the riveter became a cultural icon for women who worked in the factories in world WWII.

More than 59,000 American nurses worked in army nurse corps, which lowered post injury, mortality rate. Propaganda posters encouraged women to join the force in order to support their soldiers.
World War 2 provided an opportunity for women to show the country what they could do. They helped their country and made our victory against the Axis powers possible.

Operation overlord (D-DAY)                                                  Walker Dow

                                                                                                Zack Yanofsky

June 6^th 1944 deployment of 15,000 airborne troops followed by many more thousands of ground soldiers a few hours later striking beaches on the Normandy shore dubbed Utah, Omaha, Sword, Gold, Juno. Prior to the operation Allied intelligence and counter-intelligence operatives planted information that told the Germans the allies were going to strike in Pas de Calais. It was the largest land and sea movement of forces ever in military history. Seven days of fighting took place for the allies to establish a foothold in an 80-mile strip of France. Allied air corps destroyed lines of communication and supplies and rendered the powerful German Luftwaffe useless.  In a month over 576,000 tons of supplies 170,000 vehicles moved to this location to be deployed. Omar Bradley led an air attack creating a gap where general George Patton leader of 3^rd army advanced inland in to France.  August 23^rd Patton reached the Seine River south of Paris, joined up with French resistance fighters and liberated Paris. By September 1944 allied forces had freed France, Belgium, and Luxemburg. Losses in this operation were costly with over 120,000 soldiers by July 24^th.  

Japanese American Internment Camps

After the Japanese bombing on Pearl Harbor, the government feared that the Japanese would further attack the United States, and citizens feared that the Japanese Americans were committing sabotage in the mainland of Untied States. In response, the War Department of Untied States in 1942 demanded Japanese Americans to be evacuated from Hawaii. However, the military governor of Hawaii, General Delos Emmons, disobeyed War Department’s order because the island’s economy depended heavily on Japanese Americans who made up 38% of the island’s population. Unfortunately, he was forced to put one percent of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans in internment camps. As fear began to spread to the West Coast on the sizable group of Japanese Americans living there, President Roosevelt received advice from the military and took action for national security. He ordered to remove anyone of Japanese ancestry from the states along or near the West Coast such as California and Oregon. During the process, the government sent about 11,000 Japanese Americans to remote location center.

The policy against Japanese Americans raised controversies in the United States. Firstly, the internment camps consisted of about two-thirds of Nisei, or Japanese people born in the Untied States, and some even joined the armed forces. Secondly, Japanese Americans were not charged against any unpatriotic acts nor was any evidence of such acts discovered. However, Roosevelt justified his actions as a necessity to protect the national security. Unsatisfied, the Japanese Americans suggested injustice to the Congress and thecourts in the government’s actions towards the treatment of Japanese Americans during the war. In Korematsu v. United States in 1944, the Supreme Court ruled that the evacuation of Japanese Americans was based on “military necessity.” Years later, the Japanese American Citizens League demanded government compensation to those who went to the camps and lost their property. The Congress in 1965 only passed a spending of $38 million to compensate but it was only less than a tenth of the group’s losses. The JACL pushed again for payment of reparations to each individual who was once in the camp. It was not only a decade later that President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that promised $20,000 to every Japanese Americans living who were sent to internment camps. Finally, President George Bush in 1990 admitted the mistakes that the government did to the Japanese Americans during World War II.

By Alvin

The Eisenhower Presidency

Unlike the presidents preceding him, Dwight D. Eisenhower did not hold an extremist political ideology. He instead decided to take the "middle of the road approach", later called dynamic conservatism. Resolving that the government should be "conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings", Eisenhower set out to stabilize Americans in the aftermath of World War II.
Eisenhower was a five star general in the war, and the commander of Operation Torch, the allied invasion of North Africa. The operation was long and brutal, as Eisenhower was fighting Erwin Rommel, the German commander of North African operations. After a series of long and brutal battles, the Allies emerged victorious under Eisenhower's command.
During his presidency, Eisenhower preferred not to take a side on the Civil Rights issue, and instead focus on the US economy. He pressed hard for programs that would create a balanced budget and a cut in taxes. His administration backed the creation of interstate highways, increased funding for public housing, extended Social Security and unemployment benefits, raised the minimum wage, and created the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He is now considered among our most sucessful and most popular presidents. We can see his impact all around us, from the roads we drive on to the schools we are taught at.

Women in Wartime

Women In Wartime:

Once the war began they did not have enough workers to help the military and industrial needs, and so 6 million new workers were women and at first factories were reluctant to hire women because they did not not think they had enough stamina but the woman had proved them wrong.

Women faced much prejudice with other minorities and their wages were 40% less than men, they also took up journalism and other male professions during the war; a lot of women worked in defense plants, which offered more challenging work and higher pay, Woman also boosted to work force by 35%. On top of working in factories women were also in charge of taking care of the house while the men were fighting the war.

More than 59,000 American nurses worked in army nurse corps, which lowered post injury, mortality rate.